Heaven's Formula

I am afraid that the scale and influence of this famine will far exceed any previous natural disasters.

"Fellow folks, please don't panic! The General Office has already known about the food problem, and we will definitely not let everyone go hungry!" At this time, an uncoordinated voice came from the window into the wing room.

"Huh?" The two got up and walked to the window at the same time—several men and women squeezed into the crowd and shouted, repeating these slogans repeatedly, and this move gradually attracted the attention of the crowd.

"They are...?" President Hu frowned.

"Jinxia City Affairs Bureau in Baihe City Branch," Pelican smiled, "It's a very complicated name, right? You can understand it as an independent government set up by the third princess."

"The government can only rely on shouting?" Hu Shinan expressed puzzlement.He didn't care much about Princess Guangping's situation before, "And... Jinxia City is in the easternmost part of Shenzhou, right? How could they be aware of the situation here now?"

"I guess they should be using the name of the headquarters to boost their reputation, who told the branch office to be established not long ago." Pelican waved his hand, called a subordinate, and whispered something in his ear, "Let's do it. "

"Yes."

After a while, someone mixed into the crowd and yelled at the people in the sub-bureau, "You are lying, I came from Jinxia City! There is not enough food there, and it is all because Her Royal Highness took in overseas people. Out of 10,000+ mouths!"

"Folks, don't believe these people's nonsense! There is only so much food in total, and suddenly there are more than a hundred thousand people, how can we divide it?"

These words were immediately echoed by some of the masses.

"I seem to have heard people say that all the refugees from Leizhou were indeed taken in by Jinxia."

"The matter of foreigners...wasn't it mentioned in the weekly newspaper?"

"How many people should there be in these two waves? It won't be hundreds of thousands, right?"

The people from the affairs sub-bureau obviously didn't expect such a situation to happen, and they were a little stuck for a while, "But the head office made it clear that there is no shortage of Jinxia——"

"Of course there will be no shortage of words! Otherwise, how can we scare everyone?" Someone immediately interrupted him, "Folks, if you believe it, you will hand over your life to others!"

"I said...have the consciences of you people been eaten by dogs? I never thought that if Jinxia was really short of food, you would be killing people by doing this!"

"That's right, it's murder!"

"Get out, murderer!"

With the help of Pelican's subordinates, the situation on the scene became chaotic. Facing everyone's suspicious eyes and occasional denunciations, several people in the affairs sub-bureau showed a trace of fear.They moved back, trying to get away from the crowd.

At this moment, Hu Shinan clearly saw a man walking around behind a woman in the chaos and took out a dagger.

In the eyes of outsiders, it might just be a collision in the crowd, but the woman from the affairs branch collapsed limply while clutching her waist, her face completely pale.

"It's... a fatality!" Someone exclaimed.

There was an uproar at the scene, and the crowd quickly dispersed around, leaving a blank circle around the stabbed woman.

Many people were squeezed down during this process, and there was an endless stream of yelling, crying, and calling for help.

Chaos can no longer be contained.

The people from the affairs sub-bureau had no time to care about other things at the moment, they hurriedly carried the woman on their backs and left without even noticing that the other party's shoes had fallen off.

There was only a puddle of blood stained with muddy water on the ground.

Pelican raised the corner of its mouth slightly.

The affairs sub-bureau was assassinated, causing casualties. Who should be blamed for this?What is really terrible is not lack of food or famine, but the hostility, fear, rejection and suspicion among people.

The human heart is the source of turmoil.

He has stirred up a wildfire in the hearts of these people, and as long as it is fueled, this fire will surely burn the city.

Chapter 4 The State Apparatus

That night, there was an uproar in the lobby of the Jinxia Affairs Bureau.

In less than half an hour, officials from various departments knew about the unexplained increase in food prices in Shenzhou.Even the princess rushed to the city from the villa, and sat in the lobby to listen to the response meeting held by Xia Fan.

One of the biggest questions is whether this is a random fluctuation, or someone is really behind the scenes.

If it is the former, no doubt it only needs to issue an announcement to appease people and allocate some grain to stabilize food prices.

But if it is the latter, the situation becomes complicated and troublesome.

Among the officials present, the only one with experience was Wei Wushuang.

Facing everyone's questioning in turn, he was obviously a little overwhelmed, and he became unsure.

After all, Wei Wushuang had never experienced such a battle before. No matter what decision he made before, it would only affect the individual in the end, and at most a big bowl of grain shop would be added.But now his words will determine the decision-making that affects tens of thousands of people. If there is a misjudgment, the reputation of Jinxia City will obviously be dealt a big blow.

At this time, it was Hong Siqi who helped him speak.

The former prefect stood up, first bowed his hands to the princess and Xia Fan, and then said loudly, "Everyone, please listen to me, I have experienced three famines, and I am considered a little experienced person. Sometimes famine is not In the real shortage, panic is the main cause of the disaster. People can't know the truth and loot the grain, while the sellers see the profit and hoard it. Under the mutual influence of the two, the final result is that the grain cannot be bought at a high price. There is still plenty of food left.”

He paused, then stretched out two fingers, "So I propose to take two steps to deal with it. It is necessary to appease people's hearts and make a confident gesture, but also to prevent someone from deliberately raising prices to seek benefits from it."

This analysis instantly lowered the discussion in the lobby by several tenths.

Xia Fan looked at Hong Siqi, "Based on Mr. Hong's experience, how to appease people's hearts?"

"Master Hui Xia, suppression is the main priority, and relief is the supplement." He said decisively, "Catch the rumormongers and rumor spreaders, and kill them in the street, so as to make an example. Relief will send a special team to distribute porridge in the center of the town water, and literally reduce the number of people who go hungry."

"Then I'll leave this matter to you." Xia Fan nodded, "But it's not necessary to focus on suppression. You only care about relief, not about arresting people."

"My lord, rumors are the root of the trouble!"

Hong Siqi has already seen that Xia Fan has an inexplicable value for the people under his rule. He has no hesitation in dealing with the enemy, but he will always appear "fearful" when facing these grassroots people.

In his opinion, it would be difficult to suppress the limelight without killing a few troublemakers.

"Have you ever thought that this might not be a rumor?" Xia Fan asked back.

"No way... There was no sign of food shortage in Baihe and Anshen before. Even if the merchant wanted to raise the price, he would at most not sell the food. Master Xia meant..."

"If it's just a commercial activity, and someone wants to make huge profits, then naturally there won't be a real shortage of food." Xia Fan said in a deep voice, "But don't forget, our opponent may be the Privy Council, and behind them is the entire land of Kyushu .”

These words chilled the atmosphere at the scene.

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing what to say for a while.

It's not that no one can think of this.

But this point is too harsh, and people who think about it will refuse to think about it deeply.

Jinxia did have a surplus of food, and even without supplies, it would be no problem to consume it for a year, but for the entire Shenzhou territory, it was a drop in the bucket.

"They really dare to do this? What if it is recorded in the history books..." someone whispered.

"The massacre recorded in the history books is also a traitor, and the Privy Council may describe itself as a savior."

Eunuch Li coughed twice, broke the silence and said, "If things really develop to that point, we can only give up the towns outside Jinxia."

The idea of ​​choosing the lesser of two evils is not wrong, but it is also a helpless choice.

Xia Fan was about to speak when a notification sounded outside the lobby door.

"Come in."

A clerk walked into the lobby and dictated the latest telegram from Baihe City to Xia Fan.

"My lord, the situation has become troublesome. Just now, there was a commotion on the streets of Baihe City, and the storefront of a grain store was robbed. The branch staff who went out to publicize were also ambushed. A woman named Wei Ruoyan I was stabbed, if I don't get timely treatment, I'm afraid..." He hesitated, "I won't survive tonight."

Obviously, Baihe City has no emergency conditions.

Xia Fan immediately made a decision and said, "Transfer her back to Jinxia City for treatment. You call back and ask them to pack the wound tightly and get ready. Olina will go to pick her up."

For a journey of two to three days, one or two hours would be enough if the dragon came to drive the journey.

Moreover, it can also carry an alchemist with a heart attribute to take care of it along the way-there are quite a lot of life-saving alchemy in the dui technique, and the effect is far stronger than that of herbal medicine.

"Yes!"

"What happened?" Ning Wanjun asked.

"The situation in Baihe City is deteriorating rapidly," Xia Fan roughly recounted the dangers that happened there. "I guess other places will become like this, it's just a matter of time."

"This is too...too fast." Wei Wushuang clenched his fists and said, "It seems that someone deliberately provoked a riot."

"There is no need to doubt, our opponents are not ordinary businessmen, and the Privy Council has already started to act." Xia Fan looked around the scene, "Everyone, giving up other towns can certainly keep Jinxia, ​​but it is tantamount to letting the efforts of the whole winter go to waste. And there is no Without Shenzhou, it is not much easier to win a war with one city alone than to fight famine."

"But if the whole of Shenzhou is short of food, how can you help Master Xia?" Hong Siqi said in disbelief, "That's food for millions of people!"

Eunuch Li also frowned and said, "As far as the current situation is concerned, the surplus grain in Jinxia City is enough for the main towns of Shenzhou for one to one and a half months. In summer, the winter wheat can mature, and it can be relieved for a while, followed by the high mountains in autumn. The county has a bumper harvest—but the premise of all this is normal supply and demand. Under the looting, it will be tight first and then loose. The peak consumption in the first month will be far greater than the normal value. In addition, there are people secretly playing tricks, and Jinxia City will not be able to sustain it. The time has come. Unless... there are five times this amount of grain in stock."

"Don't say five times, it's impossible to even double it."

"The amount of grain stored in Jinxia City is already sufficient, and it is too difficult to increase from this base."

There was a murmur in the venue.

Xia Fan was unmoved, "It's really not easy, but this battle Jinxia must not take a step back. It is both a crisis and an opportunity - the only way to deal with it is to face the enemy head-on. If we can face the enemy head-on It is self-evident who is in charge of Shenzhou Realm to defeat the enemy's intention! As for the concerns of Eunuch Li and Master Hong, I can understand, but you have also overlooked some things."

"The figures you refer to are the normal reserves of Jinxia City on weekdays, but you haven't seen its potential in extraordinary times. The previous changes and policies are all in response to the arrival of this day."

Although it is immature, although it still has many defects, it is already a new city beyond the times.Xia Fan also wanted to see what kind of power Jinxia could unleash when the machine called the will of the country started to operate. He spread his hands and said, "Everyone, I want to see its real power."

Chapter 4 and Six Supporters

……

"Hurry up, hurry up, everything loaded in the car is tied up tightly, don't drop anything when you are on your way!"

"Prepare the torches of the passers-by in advance! Drivers keep an eye on the front, don't look down at the road, and keep the distance between cars!"

"If you feel sleepy, change people immediately, don't push yourself, there is no rest time for this day and night journey! There are many people waiting for us to rescue, speed is everything!"

"Captain Shi, the brothers are all ready and ready to go anytime!" A soldier reported.

Shi Zhong nodded, and trotted in front of Xu Sanzhong, "General Xu, the relief team heading to Baihe City can start their journey."

Before Xu Sanzhong could speak, a long howl suddenly came from the night sky.

"Aw———————————————————!"

I saw a huge black shadow crossing the city wall and flying towards the northwest.

Immediately afterwards, another golden light shot up into the sky, wrapped in thunder and lightning, and disappeared into the eastern sky.

Cheers erupted from the army.

Now these two figures are already a good omen in the eyes of many soldiers, especially the latter.As a majestic and powerful real dragon, the appearance of blazing and singing has been reflected in the hearts of many people, encouraging them to move forward, not to mention that when a dragon comes to the battlefield, it often means advantages and victory.

Xu Sanzhong's expression was still dignified, he patted Shi Zhong's shoulder, "Do you still remember what Lord Xia told you?"

"Remember, we should cooperate with the local affairs bureau. No matter what the situation is, we must not point our guns at the local people." Shi Zhong said solemnly.

When Xia Fan and his party went to Gyeonggi, he was the captain of the guard. It is strange to say that if anyone replaced the princess to issue orders to the army, Shi Zhong would feel dissatisfied, but he did not feel this way when facing Xia Fan.Thinking about it now, it was probably due to the other party's behavior style - that adult did not regard commanding the team as a kind of power, but seemed to shoulder an extra responsibility.

He did the same when dealing with people outside Jinxia City.

"Well, the purpose of your trip is to stabilize the situation, not intensify the conflict. Let's go!"

"The humble official takes the order!" Shi Zhong turned his head and walked towards the horse at the front of the team - in this team, he was the guide.

Looking at the mighty queue heading for Baihe City, Xu Sanzhong cupped his hands to bid farewell.

This is just a troop that sets off tonight.

According to the plan, there were six separate troops in the early stage. Apart from the two cities of Anshen and Baihe, the traffic arteries connecting Ganzhou, Liuzhou and Qingzhou must also be put under martial law immediately.

Buying food requires a lot of cash, and the money transported by horse-drawn cart basically has to pass through the official roads. If these passages cannot be blocked and money from outside can flow into Shenzhou continuously, then any countermeasures will be difficult to be effective.At the same time, the army had to strictly check the passing personnel and forbid them to take food out of Shenzhou.

This is the first step in the plan, and also the most crucial step.

Without cutting off the connection between the rebels and other cities, Jinxia City will not be able to reverse the crisis.

But this is by no means an easy task.

Xu Sanchong has been reminded that these outposts and checkpoints close to the two realms may be attacked by the enemy-this time they will no longer be fighting with the government soldiers, but the Qiguo regular army.The enemy is in the dark, and I am in the light. When fighting, we will definitely encounter many unexpected difficulties.

In this fight, the intelligence capabilities and reaction speed of both sides will determine everything!

……

"Look at me, look at me... Take a deep breath, don't fall asleep!"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine! I've already contacted Jinxia City, and they said they will send someone over to rescue you right away."

Wei Ruoyan looked at her companion and wanted to say something, but the severe pain prevented her from making a sound.Beads of sweat kept sliding down her forehead, but she felt cold all over, as if she had been soaked in cold water.

Probably... I will die here.

Wei Ruoyan had such a premonition in her heart.

Although I don't want to die, there is nothing I can do.

As for the treatment that her companion mentioned, she just took it as a kind of comfort.Jinxia and Baihe City are separated by hundreds of miles, so it's impossible to get there right away.